


The Moriarty Sessions

by orphan_account



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-05-30
Packaged: 2017-11-06 06:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/415922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The third time the unnamed man arrives.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Moriarty Sessions

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written any Sherlock fic before, much less anything with Moriarty. I'm not too sure about how well I did his voice, but you know what, here we go anyway.

"I never knew my dad," he says. "I s'pose- no, no, too _ordinary,_ bet you hear that one every day. Hmm." He ponders it, savors the question like a sweet. "My childhood. Bit dull, really. The question, I mean. You must ask everyone that."

This is their third session. It is the third time she has walked into her office, an hour before her first appointment of the day, to find the strange man sitting on her couch, waiting for her. His appearances have been few and far between- the first was three months ago, the second six and a half weeks later. She changed her locks after each one and talked to the owner of the building about a new security system, but nothing has come of it yet. Bureaucracy at its finest.

She doesn't know his name. He laughed when she asked, so she hasn't bothered trying again. He's a fairly young man, certainly not over forty but not in his twenties either. She cannot get a read on him. She desperately hopes he isn't a serial killer.

(She hasn’t called the police. He’s committed no crime besides breaking and entering, and he pays. The day after their first meeting, two thousand dollars had been placed in her bank account. She is only human.)

"You did ask for a standard session," she says after hesitating. "Most of my patients tell me what they want to work on. You haven't specified."

He laughs (she does not like his laugh) and says, "No, no, no. Do you have any hobbies?"

"I knit," she says, which is a half-truth because she _tries_ to knit and never actually gets anywhere. "Do you have any?"

"Oh, plenty. I'm very busy most of the time."

"But not today."

This makes him smile that shark grin, all teeth and bloodlust. The chances of him not being a serial killer decrease every minute she is with him. "Childhood," he says, changing the subject as abruptly as ever. "Not a bad question, really. You know, my sister had this cat. She loved that thing. I bet you think you know where this is going!" He laughs again. "It was a stuffed cat, a toy. Looked a bit like something that'd been run over by a car- are you getting this? Great. It was dreadful, actually, smelled awful. And one day the cat goes missing.

"My sister naturally assumed it was my fault. She's two years younger than me, so I figure she'd be about five at this point. But I didn't do it, and I _told_ her that _constantly_ \- why the hell would I waste my time with a stuffed cat? I had much more important things to be doing, but no, no, _must've_ been me. Had to have been.

"Turns out our mum had thrown it out because it'd gotten wrecked in the wash." He spreads his arms wide. "That’s life, isn’t it? You lose your stuffed cat, and maybe your brother did it, but actually it was just chance. Funny, that."

She finally asks what has been on her mind since she met the man. "Are you a compulsive liar?"

"Sorry?"

"During our first…session, you said you didn't have any siblings."

That laugh again. "You _are_ taking notes! Good, good." He studies her, it seems, maps every line of her face. It unnerves her so. "I wouldn't say I'm a _liar_ , though. I just like to tell stories." He stands suddenly. "I think we're done. Thanks."

She stands and shakes his offered hand. "One last question," she says, surprising herself. "What were you too busy doing to bother with the cat?"

"A little bit of everything, I suppose. Experimented with the washing machine quite a bit."


End file.
